Category : Korean Language Infographics

This is a word that you will come across often in real life and in dramas/kpop. Who doesn’t wanna say “cute!” when they see a baby, dog, or other furry little animal. For some reason, cute in Korean sounds cuter (not trying to make a joke) than its English counterpart. Maybe it’s the way Koreans say it as they have a tendency to really like cute things or make things as cute as possible.

Let’s start with the basics:

귀엽다 (gwi-yeop-da)

This is the basic dictionary form of cute. It literally means to be cute and you can often just say this as it is in most situations. However unless you’re pretty sure of how to use it, you will need to conjugate it.

Let’s take a look at the different forms you can use.

Formal Version: 귀엽슴니다 (gwi-yeop-seum-ni-da)

This is the formal version of saying cute. It’s not very likely that you will use cute in a formal situation though. For instance I highly doubt you would call your boss or teacher cute to their face. It really sounds kind of awkward even if you’re not using it towards someone older or higher in position than you.

Standard Version: 귀여워요 (gwi-yeo-weo-yo)

This is the standard version that you will want to use around people who you are not close to or people older than you. Notice the 요 ending.

Casual Version: 귀여워 (gwi-yeo-weo)

This is the one that you will probably hear most often and it is used around your close friends, family, and people younger than you.

Remember when in doubt, just use the standard version to be safe.

At the bottom of our infographic, you will see another word – 귀요미 (gwi-yo-mi)

This is a Korean slang word used to describe someone who is cute or acts cute. You could use this to describe a baby, child, pet, significant other etc. It’s a very versatile slang word.

Some people also use this to describe someone who uses a lot of aegyo (cute actions or noises). Hyo likes to use this for me when she jokes around.

One of the more confusing things for a beginner learning Korean is when they come across the many meanings for the word ‘heart’. In English the same word is used to describe the physical organ and things related to love and feelings of the mind.

However in Korean, these words can be broken down into three words that have a specific meaning.

The pronunciation of the word flower in Korean can be a little difficult for beginners. Usually the syllable ‘ㅊ’ sounds like a ‘ch’ sound. However, when it is in the final position of a word, it has a soft t sound. It’s a very abrupt t sound and sound similar to the Korean word for clothes ‘옷’.

Korea is known for it’s animal cafes. There are plenty of dog and cat cafes around so check them out if you’re ever in Seoul.

The word cat in Korean is 고양이 (go-yang-i) and sounds very similar to another word ‘고향’ (go-gyang) which is a running joke among many Koreans. Many Korean kids who are just starting to learn Korean and form sentences often get the two confused.

Meow in Korean

If you want to describe the sound of a cat meowing, you would say 야옹 (ya-ong). It’s actually pretty interesting how Korean and all languages differ in how they describe the sound a certain animal makes.

For instance, woof woof for dogs is 멍멍 (meong-meong) in Korean which to me, sounds nothing like a dog barking. Click here for more on animal sounds in Korean.

We did a post on the solar system awhile back, but never got around to some of the other space vocabulary we intended to do. So today, we’re going to start off with just simple one. The word for ‘star’ in Korean.

The word for star is 별.

It’s a very simple and easy to remember word.

Korean like English is great in a sense that other vocabulary words that are related to one word use the same base. So for example with 별, you could use it to make other words like: